Patna, Aug. 24: The Bihar State Human Rights Commission today ordered Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the widow of Rampravesh Sharma of Muhammadpur village in Jehanabad five years after he died coming in contact with a 11KV livewire dangling on pathway.

The commission’s chairman, Justice S.N. Jha, directed the BSEB to pay the compensation amount to Savitri Devi, the widow of Sharma. He asked the board to submit the compliance report to the commission within six weeks.

The commission observed that the BSEB should have paid the compensation amount of Rs 1 lakh to the family of the victim in accordance with its own policy, but it contested the case. The commission was of the view that the compensation amount should be Rs 2 lakh now because the judgment came five years after the death of Sharma.

The commission observed that Sharma died because of negligence of the power board and its officials. His unfortunate death deprived his widow and her three minor children of the source of livelihood and therefore the applicant was entitled to compensation and the board was liable to pay the sum, the panel observed.

Sharma lost his life on July 4, 2006, while he was grazing cattle in a field after he came in contact with the livewire. Police investigations and postmortem report of the deceased confirmed that Sharma died of electrocution.

Having failed to get a positive response from BSEB on the compensation issue, Savitri moved the high court in 2006 itself seeking compensation of Rs 5 lakh. Disposing of the petition on March 31, 2010, the high court observed that the applicant had the liberty to move the state human rights commission or the civil court for redressal of her grievance. After this, the applicant moved the commission.

During the course of the hearing in the commission, the BSEB tried to prove that Sharma’s death had not taken place because of electrocution. Quoting from its official records, the board tried to prove that there was no power supply when Sharma came in contact with the dangling wire.

The commission did not accept this stand and observed that going by the content of the complaint lodged with the police on the day of occurrence and the records provided by the BSEB, it appeared that the electric supply was there when Sharma was electrocuted.

The commission also observed that even it there had been any conflict or inconsistency in the content of the complaint, it could not have been literally taken and some margin had to be given about the estimated time considering the fact the complaint was lodged by an uneducated villager. The commission further observed that it was indisputable that a qualified doctor can identify and figure out the nature of burns and the possible cause of death of a person. The medical board was thus competent to conclude that burns were caused on account of electric contact.

“The medical opinion leaves no room for doubt that the deceased died on coming in contact with live electric wire,” observed the commission.